Commentary: Old Guys Rule

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It’s Random Thoughts Wednesday … let’s have a look:

#1 – Year after year we are reminded that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are a new season. Really, the playoffs are a new season in any league. But the latest evidence is the Winnipeg Jets being winless in all five road games they’ve played and now trail Dallas 3-1 in Round 2. The Stars can wind it up Thursday night.

#2 – My Dad used to wear a T-Shirt that said “Old Guys Rule”. Do they ever. 69-year old Ken Holland was hired as the next GM of the LA Kings this week, and 82-year old Lou Lamoriello was spotted in the Buffalo airport yesterday. The word is, he’s poised to join the Sabres; a team which has the longest playoff drought of any pro team on the continent. When all else fails, tab the boys who’ve got the job done before.

#3 – Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated exiled stars Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson on Tuesday, making them elligible for the Hall of Fame. Both were banned from the game due to betting scandals. Also, both are dead.

Too little, too late Rob.

#4 – CFL training camps are well underway and, ready or not, the preseason opens on Monday. I’m keeping a close eye on the camps – closer than the average bear – and noticed with interest that fists were flying at Rider camp in Saskatoon on Tuesday.

Nothing new there, but the reaction from the head coach was. Corey Mace said if you throw punches, you’re kicked out of practice. (And why wouldn’t you be? If you fight in a game, you get kicked out). I’ve never seen that before! Perhaps it truly is the dawn of a new era.

And #5 – It really is Christmas Day for NFL fans. The annual schedule release party goes tonight and multiple national TV networks are planning hours-long coverage in Prime Time. Interestingly, that’ll go head-to-head with Game 5 of the Panthers & Leafs from Toronto.

Similar to last month’s Round 1 of the NFL Draft, that also went up against the Stanley Cup Playoffs and curiously, I had the toughest time priming myself away from the NFL coverage!

Sometimes if you can’t beat ‘em, you just gotta join ‘em.

That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary

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